Intentions to Marry, 1926 Kaikoura to Christchurch

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840541, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1926 is bound in eight volumes (a to h) with continuous page numbers. Each volume contains a different set of districts, going from north to south.

1926f contains pages 2223-2768, covering districts from Kaikoura to Christchurch

Page 2371

District of Nelson Quarter ending 31 March 1926 Registrar J. H. [illegible]

Date of Notice

Names and Surnames of Parties

BDM Match

Condition

Calling or Profession

Age

Dwelling Place

Length of Residence

Marriage Place

Folio

Consent

Date of Certificate

Officiating Minister

17 February 1926

Allan James Cromie
Helen Marjorie Robinson

Allan James Cromie
Helen Marjorie Robinson
💍 1926/3577

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor engineer
Typiste

23
23

Nelson
Nelson

5 years
5 years

St Barnabas Church of England, Stoke

2950

17 February 1926

Rev. A. Rogers, Church of England

No	11
Date of Notice	17 February 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Allan James Cromie	Helen Marjorie Robinson
	💍 1926/3577
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor engineer	Typiste
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	5 years	5 years
Marriage Place	St Barnabas Church of England, Stoke
Folio	2950
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 February 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Rogers, Church of England

20 February 1926

Herbert John Dodson
Elizabeth Alice Hair

Herbert John Dodson
Elizabeth Alice Hair
💍 1926/2163

Widower (September 1918)
Spinster

Dentist
Domestic Duties

38
25

Nelson
Nelson

26 years
12 years

The Cathedral Church of England, Nelson

2502

20 February 1926

Rev. C. F. Askew, Church of England

No	12
Date of Notice	20 February 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert John Dodson	Elizabeth Alice Hair
	💍 1926/2163
Condition	Widower (September 1918)	Spinster
Profession	Dentist	Domestic Duties
Age	38	25
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	26 years	12 years
Marriage Place	The Cathedral Church of England, Nelson
Folio	2502
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 February 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. F. Askew, Church of England

22 February 1926

Norman George Cameron
Thelma Grace Watson

Norman George Cameron
Thelma Grace Watson
💍 1926/2170

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Clerk

51
22

Nelson
Nelson

21 years
5 years

Presbyterian Church, Nelson

2503

22 February 1926

Rev. James Laird, Presbyterian

No	13
Date of Notice	22 February 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Norman George Cameron	Thelma Grace Watson
	💍 1926/2170
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Clerk
Age	51	22
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	21 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Nelson
Folio	2503
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 February 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Laird, Presbyterian

25 February 1926

William Edward James Graham
Cecilia Mary Kelly

William Edward James Graham
Cecilia Mary Kelly
💍 1926/2171

Bachelor
Spinster

Marine Engineer
Domestic Duties

40
32

Nelson
Wakefield Quay, Port Nelson

40 years
12 months

The residence of H. M. Meylen, Wakefield Quay, Port Nelson

2504

25 February 1926

Rev. J. Cullen, Roman Catholic

No	14
Date of Notice	25 February 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Edward James Graham	Cecilia Mary Kelly
	💍 1926/2171
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Marine Engineer	Domestic Duties
Age	40	32
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Wakefield Quay, Port Nelson
Length of Residence	40 years	12 months
Marriage Place	The residence of H. M. Meylen, Wakefield Quay, Port Nelson
Folio	2504
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 February 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Cullen, Roman Catholic

27 February 1926

John Newton Blechynden
Dorcas Frances Olive Davis

John Newton Blechynden
Dorcas Frances Olive Davis
💍 1926/2172

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheepfarmer
Domestic Duties

23
23

Daphouse
Port Nelson

1 day
14 years

All Saints Church of England, Nelson

2505

27 February 1926

Rev. G. Dart, Church of England

No	15
Date of Notice	27 February 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Newton Blechynden	Dorcas Frances Olive Davis
	💍 1926/2172
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheepfarmer	Domestic Duties
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Daphouse	Port Nelson
Length of Residence	1 day	14 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Church of England, Nelson
Folio	2505
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 February 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Dart, Church of England

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

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What is an Intention to Marry?

The 1854 Marriage Act required Pakeha settlers (and later Maori) to register their intention to marry from 1855. The resulting Notices of intention to marry were sent by the district registrars to the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages and bound into large volumes, each containing a year of notices. These registers were eventually deposited with Archives New Zealand.

What information does an ItM record?

A typical Intention to Marry notice records:

the bride and groom's full names
occupation of the groom (and sometimes the bride)
their ages
district where the marriage would take place
how long they had resided in the district
Where the marriage would take place (eg, a specific church)
Who would officiate the marriage (eg, a minister)
The date of the notice and also a date when the certificate was issued. Marriages had to take place within 3 months, and usually occurred within a week or so of the certificate date.
If one of the parties was under 21, a parent who consented to their marriage was usually specified

These details can provide clues for genealogical and historical research. Knowing the date and district makes it easier to look for wedding notices in Papers Past, and the amount of time that the parties had resided in a district can offer clues to whether a person was born in NZ, or when they immigrated.

However, finding individual records in the Intentions to Marry registers was typically a slow and manual process, usually requiring an in-person visit to Archives NZ's Wellington office (during limited opening hours) and using a handwritten card catalogue index to look up individual names.

Eight years of the registers had been digitised by Archives NZ prior to 2024, but even these digital versions required the use of a manual index and usually examining several pages to locate specific records.

What is the Intentions to Marry Project?

This project aims to transcribe the New Zealand Intentions to Marry registers (from 1855 to 1925) with the assistance of new technology (AI), making the records freely available and easily searchable.

The ITM records have also been cross-referenced with the registered marriages at DIA Births, Deaths and Marriages, where possible (a small fraction of the recorded intentions to marry did not become a registered marriage).

Primary digitisation of registers between 1855 and 1925 is now complete. Our digitisation volunteers are now working on verifying the currently digitised pages against printed district/page indexes, to identify pages which may have been missed or out of focus. These pages can be re-imaged as required.

The project is led by Luke Howison, a web developer who made the free genealogical research search tool NZ Ancestor Search Helper and Archway-style Collections Search. There are also some wonderful volunteers assisting with digitising the registers.

How can I help?

You can sign up to correct errors in the transcribed records and match ITMs with registered marriages.

You can also support this project by ☕ Buying us a coffee 🌳

How is the transcription done?

There are several steps to digitising and transcribing the records:

Digitising the registers (taking clean, straight, high-quality photos)
Processing the digitised pages by straightening, cropping and sharpening the images
Transcribing each page with a combination of AI tools
Matching each ITM with a registered marriage when possible
Human verification of the transcribed information

The main LLM (AI) used are the Google Gemini Pro and Flash models, which have excellent 'Vision' capabilities, and a generous free tier.

Archives NZ has released the register years they have digitised (1865-69, 1872, 1874 and 1880) under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license.

The Intention to Marry registers (up to 1925) are more than 100 years old, so their Crown Copyright has expired, putting them in the public domain. This also applies to any 'mechanical reproductions' (eg, pictures or photocopies) of their content without substantial alteration.

The transcribed records on this website are released under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal license, which allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, even for commercial purposes, while giving credit to the creator (NZ Intentions to Marry Project).